# Just set or remove the comment signs ( # and ; ) in order to activate
# your device. (Actual entries are further down, after the reference.)
#
# For custom settings:
# Numbers can be decimal or hexadecimal, MessageStrings MUST be
# hexadecimal without prepended “0x”. Digits 9-16 in the known
# MessageStrings are arbitrary; I set them to “12345678″

# What it all means (short command line flags appended):
#
#
# * DefaultVendor -v
# * DefaultProduct -p
#
# This is the ID the USB device shows after having been plugged in.
# The program needs this; if not found -> no action.
#
#
# * TargetVendor -V
# * TargetProduct -P
#
# These are the IDs of the USB device after successful mode switching.
# They are optional, but I recommend to provide them for better analysis.
# You definitely need them if you enable CheckSuccess (see below)
#
#
# * TargetClass -C
#
# Some weird devices don’t change IDs. They only switch the device class.
# If the device has the target class -> no action (and vice versa)
#
#
# * MessageEndpoint -m
#
# A kind of address inside the interface to which the “message”
# (the sequence that does the actual switching) is directed.
# Starting from version 0.9.7 the MessageEndpoint is autodetected
# if not given
#
#
# * MessageContent -M
#
# A hex string containing the “message” sequence; it will be
# sent as a USB bulk transfer.
#
#
# * ResponseEndpoint -r
# * NeedResponse -n
#
# Some devices were reported to require receiving the response of the
# bulk transfer to do the switching properly. Usually not needed.
# Starting from version 1.0.0 the ResponseEndpoint is autodetected
# if not given
#
#
# * DetachStorageOnly -d
#
# Some devices just need to be detached from the usb-storage
# driver to initiate the mode switching. Using this feature
# instead of removing the whole usbstorage module keeps other
# storage devices working.
#
#
# * HuaweiMode -H
#
# Some Huawei devices can be switched by a special control
# message.
#
#
# * SierraMode -S
#
# Some Sierra devices can be switched by a special control
# message.
#
#
# * SonyMode -O
#
# Some Sony-Ericsson devices can be switched by a special control
# message. This is experimental and might not have a stable result
#
#
# * ResetUSB -R
#
# Some devices need a rougher treatment. If the switching seems
# to do something (run udevmonitor), but your system does not reflect
# it, try this somewhat brutal method to do a reset after switching.
# Mind that if your device switched OK before, this will probably set
# it back to storage mode …
#
#
# * Interface -i
# * Configuration -u
# * AltSetting -a
#
# More USB parameter to help with tricky devices and for doing lots
# of cruel experiments …
#
## Note:
## AltSetting/Configuration changes and ResetUSB are executed after all
## other steps and can be combined or used on their own (e.g. a reset
## might have the same effect as a manual replug)
#
#
# * InquireDevice -I (disables inquiry)
#
# The standard since 1.0.0 is to do a SCSI inquiry on the default device
# before other actions. This might be a future way to identify a device
# without ambiguities. If it causes trouble with your device, just disable.
#
#
# * CheckSuccess -s
#
# Check for successful switch after seconds (to let device
# settle). First, an interface access test: most devices vanish after
# switching and can’t be accessed anymore. Second, a recount of target
# devices: one more than at the first count -> device switched fine. A
# settling time of 2 – 3 seconds is usually enough; your setup may vary
#
#
# -> All other entries are just ignored Run lsusb to note any changes. Bye.

Literally it is! with 3 easy steps I’ve got some of the computer of at my Lab up and booting the edubuntu 6.06 server. Some….? Well.. actually there was some problem booting the older Pentium 2 computers. I’ve got an error that says that the client can’t find the PXE Server. I’ll discuss those later at the troubleshooting section of this story of my edubuntu way to ltsp glory…

Here we go, I start my first step with configuring the /etc/ltsp/dhcp.conf to suite my current network

And then the Third one is the last step :
Set your clients to boot from the network, this can be done in two ways : change the BIOS settings to make the client boot from the net, almost every new computers that have an on-board network interface support this feature. Or for a computer or network interface that doesn’t support network boot, you can build a startup disk to boot ltsp client’s, here is a great site for creating a boot image http://rom-o-matic.net

That’s it !?!

Well… I wish it was my last step that night, but faith took me the other way, the new AMD Sempron 3000+ computers boot right away without any problem but my lab only had 4 of those and the others are old compaq intel pentium2 PC’s that are unused coz the just can’t take life as a today computer . And in my case the trouble is to boot the PXE server with them even tough they can automatically detect the dhcp server.

Step 1: Edit /etc/inetd.conf. Since I already installed and configured the Ubuntu ltsp server packages, then I have a line for tftp there. Add “-r blksize” to the end of this line, save and exit. NB Do not waste your time with /etc/default/tftpd-hpa – this has no effect on the running of the service as it is started by inetd.

Step 2:Edit /etc/sysctl.conf. Add the line “net/ipv4/ip_no_pmtu_disc=1″save, exit and reboot.

Then those pentium II zombies came to life!!!!

Credits to steps above goes all to v4169sgr, the guy who had a hard time finding this solution

After all clients are up and running i had another problem! I can’t login with the username and password that i made from the administration panel!!!

Later i found out that the ltsp system was located at /opt/ltsp/*architecture*/ then I do these steps :

$ sudo chroot /opt/ltsp/*architecture*/
$ sudo adduser *username*

note that you have to have make the same username both from the administrator control panel and from the steps above.

From then my Lab runs edubuntu LTSP without any trouble at all!

My second attempt to install edubuntu 6.06 is at a cyber cafe, and all that I’ve done is just those three easy steps i’ve mentioned earlier! nothing more! I didn’t encounter any of the trouble I’ve found earlier at my Lab! I’ve set up the cyber cafe into a edubuntu ltsp network in under half an hour! All of the clients were IBM Netvista’s with intel P3-800Mhz 128 Mb SDRAM that is slow like hell when it runs on Windows , but now they run as fast as the server!

In my opinion Edubuntu’s LTSP can be the solution for schools or labs or library’s that are searching for a cheap but powerful solution to aid their need for IT education, besides the easiness of the LTSP I havent found any linux distribution with an education application suite that are as good as Edubuntu’s.